About Vickie Sullivan

Vickie Sullivan is internationally recognized as the top market strategist for thought leaders, professional speakers and B2B professional service firms. Specializing in brand and message strategies in crowded markets, she has helped thousands of talented people outsmart their competition since 1987.

Written by: Vickie Sullivan | April 25, 2017

Increase Your Influence

If you are in the medical field, you’ve seen the buzzword KOL (key opinion leader) bandied about for years now. What’s fascinating now is how market forces have skyrocketed the value of these relationships between KOLs and the pharmaceutical industry. This dynamic is outlined in the McKinsey report, Pharma Medical Affairs 2020 and Beyond.

Yes, this is a thing, with a whole cottage industry around the care and feeding of these relationships. Let’s move past pharma for a second and look at strategy. Call me crazy, but these market dynamics also exist in other industries. My question: Can we pitch this value in other places? Why not?

Listen: 2 tools to position yourself as a key opinion leader

Where this KOL approach could work:

Any product launch

Any situation where the buyers have expanded

Communication programs where trust and transparency is paramount

Prediction: Influence is more useful than ever. Thought leaders with high regard will see more opportunities to put their reputation to work. Just sayin’. …

About Vickie Sullivan

Vickie Sullivan is internationally recognized as the top market strategist for thought leaders, professional speakers and B2B professional service firms. Specializing in brand and message strategies in crowded markets, she has helped thousands of talented people outsmart their competition since 1987.